Lizzy Burke
Opinions Editor
Disclaimer: I love New Canaan High School. I think the administration is extremely conscious and makes great efforts to support and provide for the students. However, there’s one effort I can’t help but criticize – what’s going on with mentoring?
The apparent goal of this mentoring advisory program is to have a grade-specific group of kids that meet with an advisor to facilitate goal-setting. Sadly, when I asked groups of students what they thought the purpose to be, the responses were not as enthusiastic or focused. “I’m not sure of the real purpose, it hasn’t been defined,” senior David Wilcox said. “I know it’s supposed to help set goals.”
Similarly, freshman Charlie Wilson knew roughly what the purpose was. “To set up Naviance, and to plan your goals,” he said. It’s been programmed into our heads that this program is for goal setting. But is this its only service?
Some students are able to recognize the capabilities that this program has. Sophomore Mia Carroll hit the nail on the head when I asked her to describe what she thought the purpose of mentoring is. “It’s an environment that follows you through the four years to talk about issues and have the advisors as a resource,” she said. “It’s a safe place.” However, Mia’s idea failed to mention any objective of goal setting. This different response led me to question what the purpose of mentoring should actually be.
Recent tragedies have been hitting close to home, such as the suicides at Greenwich and Westhill as well as the controversial cat-head incidents in town. These are conflicts affecting students just like those that walk the halls of NCHS, just like those who sit in mentoring every other week. However, in the last mentoring meeting we continued with our agenda of goal setting, ignoring a vital opportunity to discuss such controversial topics.
Freshman Reed Proctor had heard of these tragic events, and valued the ability to use mentoring as a time to talk. “These events should be discussed to help the students get more knowledge,” he said.
Sophomore Isabella Savini agreed that these topics should be discussed in mentoring, placing specific emphasis on the high-school suicides. “It may be depressing to talk about it at first, but if you address it you are encouraging prevention,” she said.
Similarly, Mia added that although it may be tough to talk about at first, it’s necessary. “It’s more depressing if you don’t talk about it and then something happens,” she said. “Mentoring would improve with more diverse conversations.”
I noticed that the younger kids seemed more responsive to the mentoring program, with both Charlie and Reed saying we should have it every other week for more time, perhaps a full period. Mia agreed, saying that once every two weeks is fitting. However, senior Nicole Dolby thought it should be changed to only occurring once a month. “I don’t like being forced to make goals that I know I won’t use, “she said. “It’s busy work and eats up school time.”
Perhaps it is because the school is only enacting mentoring in our last year of school as seniors, inhibiting the program from reaching it’s full potential of fostering a safe environment for students in the same grade. Or maybe it is just our high levels of stress that lead us to resent the mandate to share our goals (typically college related) with our peers. It could even be due to the flexibility mold that advisory has the potential for, but that faculty just doesn’t seem comfortable with conforming to. Whatever it is, students are calling for a change in the mentoring program.
It’s no doubt that kids have opinions – thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the issues and conflicts that arise in our community. Mentoring should be a vehicle for discussion for students, rather than a rigid curriculum that few kids become engaged in. The mentoring program has great potential and a steady foundation has been laid. I am by no means denouncing the effort, but the execution. While the 1st quarter integrated the program nicely, it may be beneficial to hear more student input for the content and structure of these meetings going forward.
For more information, check www.nchscourant.com later in the week for an article by reporter Matt Riley about the mentoring system.
